Thanks to the support of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Guyana’s top junior chess players are set to represent the nation at the prestigious FIDE World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad in Barranquilla, Colombia.
The four-player squad, accompanied by coach and FIDE Master Anthony Drayton, will compete against teams worldwide in the week-long tournament, which runs from August 16 to 23.
The team is spearheaded by Kyle Couchman, the newly crowned 2025 National Junior Chess Champion, who will play on Board One.
With a FIDE rating of 1947, he is the third-highest-rated active player in Guyana.
Joining him are three other accomplished young talents:
Candidate Master (CM) Sachin Pitamber, the youngest CM in the country and the current U16 Open Chess Champion, will play on Board Two. Pitamber and Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Aditi Joshi earned their titles at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Hungary.
Alexander Zhang, who was Guyana’s top player at the CARICOM U16 Junior Tournament, will hold down Board Three.
Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Aditi Joshi, the reigning U16 Girls and Women’s Chess Champion, will play on Board Four.
With 90 teams and over 350 players registered, the competition will be fierce. The Guyanese team is currently the highest-ranked CARICOM nation in the tournament.
The tournament will feature nine rounds using the Swiss System with a time control of 45 minutes plus 10-second increments.
The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) is confident that the event will be an invaluable experience for the players’ individual growth and skill development. The federation has thanked the NSC for sponsoring the team’s airfare.
The BCCI has introduced a “serious injury replacement substitute” rule for in domestic cricket to prevent injured players from risking themselves further in the match.
This applies to games that take place over multiple days and will come into effect from the Duleep Trophy, which opens the 2025-26 season on August 28.
It will be active in the Ranji trophy as well, India’s premier first-class cricket competition.
This replacement can be any non-playing member of the squad, should be like-for-like, and will need an approval from the match referee after teams are able to medically produce a report that underlines the seriousness of the injury of the concerned player.
The injury has to have happened during the game and needs to be external (like taking a blow resulting in a deep cut or fracture) rather than internal (like a hamstring strain).
This addition was debated within the BCCI circles in the aftermath of Rishabh Pant batting with a broken foot against England in Manchester, and has been swiftly incorporated into the playing regulations.
The regulation states, “under all circumstances, the serious injury replacement player shall be from nominated substitutes at the time of toss.
“Only in the case where the wicketkeeper is seriously injured and needs a replacement then the match referee may allow a wicketkeeper from a player outside the nominated substitutes if there is no wicketkeeper in the nominated substitutes.”
Both the player being replaced and the replaced player shall be considered to have played in the match for records and statistical purposes.
At present, international cricket only allows substitutions in the event of a player suffering concussion or contracting the Covid-19 virus.
During India’s tour of England earlier this year, Pant (foot) and Chris Woakes (shoulder) suffered dislocations, which left their respective teams in a 10 vs 11 battle.
Both players braved further injury to come out and help their team’s cause, which added to the debate about whether there needs to be place in the rules for substitutions in case of serious injury. India coach Gautam Gambhir was for it. England captain Ben Stokes was less so, arguing that the system could be gamed.
The ICC, in reviewing its own playing conditions earlier this year, was open to the idea of its member nations trialling injury substitutes in domestic cricket. (ESPNcricinfo)
An accident on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway in the early hours of Saturday has claimed the lives of three persons, including a 7-year-old child.
Dead are Shelly Joseph, Keiron Wells, and 7-year-old Meranzo Campbell.
The News Room understands that the car they were in crashed into a parked truck along the highway.
Traffic Chief, Assistant Commissioner Mahendra Singh has confirmed the deaths and stated that investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Authorities have urged drivers to exercise extreme caution on the highway, especially during the night and early morning hours.
Anti-crime patrol ranks yesterday found 684.8 grams of suspected marijuana at an unattended chicken farm in Parika Facade, East Bank Demerara.
Police Headquarters reported that the operation took place between 13:00 hrs and 15:30 hrs, during which ranks conducted several searches in a storeroom and around the chicken coop, but nothing illegal was found.
The report noted that ranks then observed a track alongside a drain that measures about seven feet in width. They followed the track, walking about 15 minutes, where they found a zinc sheet covering a grey tarpaulin. A green salt bag containing three bulky parcels of suspected cannabis was found under the tarpaulin.
Police then observed a black plastic bag about three feet away, which contained two more bulky parcels with suspected cannabis. The parcels were taken to the Leonora Police Station, where it was weighed and amounted to 684.8 grams. No one was arrested as investigations continue.
Police are investigating the death of a so far unidentified male who was struck down on the Rupert Craig Highway, in the vicinity of the Russian Embassy on Friday night at around 23:30 hrs.
Police Headquarters revealed that the accident involved motor car #PXX 8048, owned and driven by 26-year-old Christopher McPherson, who was speeding at the time.
It was noted that the driver was proceeding east along the southern lane when he observed a pedestrian suddenly run from the northern side to the southern side, into the path of his vehicle, causing him to pull north.
“However, due to the short braking distance, the front portion of the car collided with the pedestrian. As a result of the collision, the pedestrian was flung onto the road surface, and his body partly ended up under the car.
“He sustained injuries to his head and body. The ambulance service was summoned to the accident scene, and upon arrival, the EMT (Doctor Harrykishon) pronounced the pedestrian dead on the spot,” the police release noted.
A Notice of Intended Prosecution was prepared and served on McPherson; a breathalyzer test was conducted on the driver, and he had no trace of alcohol in his breath. The driver is in police custody, assisting with the investigation.
The Guyana Elections Commission has extracted 10, 481 ballots to be used by the Disciplined Forces to vote on August 22, 2025.
This was announced by Deputy Chief Elections Officer Aneal Giddings at the start of a training session for media workers covering general and regional elections.
The Disciplined Forces include the Guyana Defence Force the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Prison Service. They vote ahead of the actual elections because they will be working on elections day – September 1, 2025. For the Guyana Police Force, there are 6, 909 ballots; for the Guyana Prison Service, there are 466 ballots; and for the Guyana Defence Force there are 3,106 ballots.
Those who can vote should be over the age of 18, be a registered voter and must be listed on the Disciplined Forces list. Those who don’t get to vote on August 22, can still, on September 1, vote in the areas where they are registered to vote.
Two men were arrested, and another three are wanted by Police concerning the attempted murder of Raagendra Sooragpaul and his father, Sookedeo Sooragpaul.
The men still wanted are: Andra Parag, Jermaine Adams, and Rayfield London.
According to Police Headquarters, the incident occurred on March 14, 2025. On that date, three men attacked Raagendra and Sookedeo at their Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast, house.
Raagendra had returned from visiting relatives around 13:20 hrs and was sitting under the house talking with his wife when three men came to the premises, calling out for his brother, Avie. After informing them that Avie was not at home, Sookedeo stepped outside to speak with the men.
However, Police reported that the suspects became violent moments later, hitting and kicking Sookedeo.
As Raagendra rushed to help his father, the men beat him with a baseball bat, striking him repeatedly as both father and son were brutally beaten.
The victims were subsequently escorted to the Suddie Public Hospital, where they were examined and treated by a doctor.
A few days after, Sookedeo boarded a flight to the United States, where further examinations revealed he had suffered several broken ribs.
The matter was reported to the Police, and an investigation was launched.
Acting on information received, ranks from the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters, arrested 33-year-old Jose Bristol, a supervisor at Superior Concrete Inc who lives at Lot 147 Barr Street, Kitty, Georgetown.
During a detailed interview conducted by detectives, Bristol alleged that he and two other accomplices were hired by a well-known businessman, Andra Parag, to attack the Sooragpauls.
He reportedly told officers that he has known businessman Andra Parag for several years and worked as his “enforcer,” carrying out violent attacks on individuals at Parag’s request. He further alleged that Parag often tied up people at his workplace and assaulted them in his presence.
Bristol added that Parag shared close ties with another prominent businessman, Junior Baksh, and that it was Baksh from whom the Sooragpauls had borrowed over $40 million.
Police further related that Bristol said Parag intervened in the dispute on Baksh’s behalf, claiming the father and son were hiding from their debt and instructing him to “teach them a lesson.”
Bristol told investigators that Parag promised to pay him $1 million for the job and recruited two other men, including Jermaine Adams, to assist. On the day of the attack, Bristol said he lured Raagendra outside and struck him, while Adams used a baseball bat, and the third accomplice joined in the beating. When Sookedeo attempted to protect his son, the men turned their assault on him as well.
Police said Bristol admitted that after the attack, Parag handed him $500,000 as partial payment, but never delivered the outstanding sum. He then alleged that Parag is currently in Venezuela.
Further investigations were conducted, which led to the arrest of 38-year-old Kevin Dey, a businessman of Lot 287 Lamaha Gardens, who imports motor vehicles. It was alleged that Dey has also been working alongside Andra Parag as an enforcer, carrying out violent acts on his behalf.
Bristol and Dey are in custody as Police search for the other three men.
Vishnu Persaud, the Chief Elections Officer of GECOM, the country’s elections body, Saturday morning admitted the deficiency of his secretariat in providing updated information to the public and said he will hold regular press conferences from coming Monday.
Reporters have regularly complained that there has been but a trickle of information from GECOM, especially now when general and regional elections are weeks away. The elections will be held on September 1, 2025.
Persaud, speaking at the opening of a training session for reporters, said he has sought and received permission from the Commission to hold press conferences and make himself available for interviews. He has authorised the Deputy Chief Elections Officer Aneal Giddings to do so if he is not available. The Secretariat acts on the direction of the Commission.
The training session was organised to allow reporters to understand GECOM’s operational framework, the electoral laws and the various stages of the electoral cycle.
“We believe that a well-informed media is an indispensable partner in ensuring that the election processes and outcomes are accepted by all stakeholders, especially the contestants and the voters, as being free, fair, transparent and credible,” Persaud stated.
He said the training session is designed to foster a collaborative environment where the GECOM Secretariat can address questions and clarify procedures so as to build a shared commitment to uphold the principles of electoral integrity.
“We recognize that the media serves as the primary conduit of information between GECOM and Guyana’s populist, more specifically the contestants and the voters.
“This includes the tabulation of results, which is considered to be of paramount importance as a closing component of the electoral process.”
Among the matters being discussed at the training session are the legal framework governing elections in Guyana, including the Representation of the People Act, so reporters are fully aware of the rights and responsibilities of all stakeholders.
Reporters will also be provided with insights into the security measures in place to safeguard the electoral materials and the integrity of the ballot.
In seemingly comedic videos shared by the Guyana Learning Channel, Sir Leon Beaton can be seen visiting schools and gyaffing with students about a subject many might not consider fun or even easy—Mathematics.
But Beaton—young, vibrant, and almost blending in with the high school students at times—appears unfazed by any apprehension about the subject. He asks, “Yuh does beat de Maths or de Maths does beat yuh?” before quizzing students.
The goal is to get them more comfortable with numbers. And Beaton understands why that’s necessary. Months away from his CSEC examinations, a much younger Beaton struggled to pass the subject but he eventually decided to commit to the subject, and, as he says, “give it a chance.”
So the former teacher of the Port Kaituma Secondary School in Region One (Barima- Waini), worked from teaching students and recording fun video lessons shared on his Facebook page, to now leading national Mathematics interventions meant to help students embrace the subject more.
And it seems like something is working.
On Friday, Guyana’s Ministry of Education announced the preliminary results of this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations. A total of 12,685 students wrote the exams this year, and the overall pass rate for Mathematics jumped from 27% to 32%.
“A jump from 27% to 32% is very significant… that is roughly close to 500 additional students who passed Mathematics,” Beaton told the News Room just after the results were announced.
This graph was shared by the Ministry of Education during the announcement of the 2025 CSEC results. It shows the Mathematics pass rates in each of Guyana’s 10 administrative regions and Georgetown (the capital city, which is considered separately from the rest of Region Four)
And he pointed out that Guyana, and the Caribbean at large (CSEC is administered in 16 countries within the Caribbean Community), has long hovered around Mathematics pass rates of about 20 to 30%.
So what did Guyana do? Or at least, what do education officials believe contributed to the jump in the pass rate?
Well, the Mathematics intervention coordinated by Beaton and a team of similarly dedicated ‘Math-heads’ was rolled out with a huge focus on equity.
One intervention was to equip every student with the tools they needed to learn better: scientific calculators, geometry sets, textbooks, past papers, and other learning materials.
Beaton said there were too many instances where students managed to get calculators only days before the exams (if they got them at all) and were unable to understand the numbers, letters, and functions on the device.
It wasn’t just calculators. Something as seemingly easy-to-get as past papers was a challenge for some, limiting their exposure to practical ways of testing what they learnt.
“Many students, because of where they are, sometimes they may not get to purchase a past paper booklet. I taught in Region One, and you find students had to send out ot Georgetown to get the past paper booklets,” Sir Leon recounted.
So, the tools were provided.
Then, Sir Leon believed more exposure to Mathematics learning was necessary. So, the Ministry of Education, as a matter of policy, opted to increase the number of teaching slots for the subject during a school week. Monitors were also employed to support teachers.
It is believed that these moves, alongside broader initiatives like getting teachers trained and building more schools across the country, contributed to the increased pass rate.
Sir Leon Beaton with the News Room’s Vishani Ragobeer after the announcement of the 2025 CSEC results
But there is more work to be done. While the pass rate climbed by 5% (moving from 27% to 32%), 68% of the students who wrote Mathematics failed. The interventions rolled out are still in an infantile stage, and Caribbean-wide interventions are said to be in the works and should be deployed next year, but Sir Leon remains optimistic.
He certainly thinks there’s more work to be done on the psychological side of things. Many students, he contended, are daunted by the subject because it has long carried the tag of being difficult. The Mathematics teacher doesn’t believe that is the case.
“…once I gave it [Mathematics] a chance, I realised that it was probably one of the easiest subjects,” he said.
For now, he’ll continue creating the videos with students and working with the team to roll out, monitor, and refine the Mathematics interventions. Beaton hopes many more students will embrace the subject.
His message to them is a simple one: “Forget about what others say, and just give it a chance.”
The road to León, Mexico, officially runs through Georgetown.
The Guyana Basketball Federation (GBF) has dropped the official dates for its 2025 National 3×3 Basketball Championship, and the stakes have never been higher.
The nation’s top 3×3 talent will hit the hardwood on September 27–28 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, with more than just a trophy on the line.
This year’s tournament is the sole qualifier for the prestigious FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup, where Guyana will once again face off against the best squads from North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean. The pressure is on, and the field is expanding. A total of 16 teams will compete for national bragging rights—six more than last year’s edition—in a fierce battle for a spot on the national team.
The competition is a high-stakes affair, with serious cash up for grabs. The championship-winning team will pocket a cool $500,000, while the second-place team takes home $200,000. Third and fourth place will be awarded $100,000 and $50,000, respectively.
For GBF President Michael Singh, the tournament is a crucial part of a transparent and competitive selection process.
“We want a transparent selection process for the AmeriCup,” Singh explained.
“The 3×3 AmeriCup is an important fixture on our international calendar. In fact, we’ve only missed it once due to unforeseen circumstances. Every other year, we’ve proudly represented Guyana, often as one of the few English-speaking Caribbean nations in the competition.”
Singh also highlighted the growing support for 3×3 basketball in Guyana, crediting both the government and corporate partners for their backing. He acknowledged the need for a more competitive preparation strategy this year. The GBF plans to enter the selected national team into international 3×3 circuit events to give them valuable exposure and experience against high-caliber opposition.
FLASHBACK! 2024 GBF National 3×3 champions – Renegades receiving their trophy from GBF president Michael Singh
“In past years, we didn’t give our teams enough chances to compete against elite talent before the AmeriCup,” Singh admitted. “This year, we want to change that by testing our squad in top-tier 3×3 competitions so they’re battle-ready when they step onto the court in Mexico.”
Last year’s championship was a memorable clash at the National Gymnasium.
The Renegades squad—featuring Jude Corlette, Travis Belgrave, Nikkoloi Smith, and Dominic Vincente—claimed victory in a heated final, defeating a stacked Linden side with a final score of 21–15.
That experience paid off, as Belgrave, Vincente, Harold Adams, and Smith went on to represent Guyana on the international stage at the 3×3 AmeriCup in Puerto Rico.
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FLASHBACK! 2024 GBF National 3×3 champions – Renegades receiving their trophy from GBF president Michael Singh